A Shirt in a Box
by What'dIMiss
Summary: Their family just moved. Mike is unpacking when he finds an item out of place among his older brother's things. His older brother who just got out of juvie. Again. AU. Includes Dal and Nal and a small bout of Malejandro. Rated T b/c bits of language and such. Need better cover image.:P
1. Moving

**A/N: Another fic with these two! Surprised? I'm guessing not.**

 **Don't even ask where the idea for this came from. It's a long story.**

 **I thought it would be this unny one-shot thing, but because I can't write humor to save my life, it ended up as this. I think it'll be a two-or-three shot but nothing more than that(or not IDK).**

 **Enjoy!**

Mike began to unpack his things. He and his family had just moved because of his brother. His no-good brother who kept going in and out of juvie.

He found a box he thought was labeled 'Mike's T-shirts' and began to take stuff out of it. He quickly realized it was in fact his brother's, as all the shirts were either black or red, and had tears in them from who-knows where. He began to put them to the side to give to him later. As in when he got out of juvie.

There was one shirt, however, that stood out from the rest.

It was at the bottom of the box, in between an old rock concert tee with the sleeves ripped off and a random piece of paper. It was face down, but it was...pink?

Mike took the shirt out of the box, unfolded it and stared at the graphic on the front. He burst out laughing.

"Mike! Guess who's back early!"

Mike quickly threw the shirt in with his stuff and went to the front of their new apartment. His mom was standing there with his brother in the doorway, fresh out of juvie.

Mike's brother didn't look much different than nine months before when he'd gone back to juvie this time around. His hair was a bit longer, still hanging in his face. The lines under his eyes had become darker. His skin was slightly paler, but it held its natural tan. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and jeans, which their mom had brought for him to put on so he looked less like a prisoner. The scratch under his left eye looked like it had healed ok, but it had scarred remarkably.

He was notably wearing a black fingerless glove over his right hand.

"Hey, weirdo." he started.

Mike hugged him. "It's good to have you home again, Mal."

"Meh, the food is certainly better here. Other than that, it's the same." Mal stepped into the apartment and looked around. "Yep, just like prison."

"Mal, you were in juvie. You've never been to real prison."

"I came close to it, once. Now, where'd you put my things? You'd better not have unpacked them." Mal changed the subject.

"Oh, they're in here." Mike pointed to a few boxes in the room.

Mal smirked. "Perfect." He went over to the boxes and started digging through them.

Mike quickly walked back to the box with Mal's actual things and closed it. The shirt was off to the side. He quickly grabbed it and went to find his own stuff.

"Mike,get in here... _now._ " Mal was using his scary voice, the one that sent chills up people's spines.

Mike just smiled and walked back to where Mal was, holding up one of Mike's pajama shirts above a box. His fist was clenched. He did not look happy. "What's wrong?"

"This is wrong." Mal dropped the shirt back into the box. "I'll ask you again: where. Is. My. _Stuff_?!"

"Relax. It's over there." Mike pointed to the box.

"You'll regret tricking me one day,"

"Mike, honey, don't be mean to your brother," their mom called from another room.

"I wasn't being mean," Mike protested, walking towards her.

Mal was going through the box. He got to the bottom, then realizied what was missing. "I swear to God, I will _kill you_..." He turned curtly and found Mike again. He grabbed him by the shirt collar. " _Where is it_?!" he asked angrily.

"Where's what? This?" Mike pulled the shirt out from behind his back, smirking.

Mal dropped Mike's collar out of his hand and snatched the pink shirt. "If you tell anyone about this, you're dead. Got it?"

"Woah, it's just a shirt. Calm down." Mike put his hands up.

"No, it's more than that."

"Really?"

"It's the only clothing I have that's not ripped or stained or anything."

"Ok, cool-"

"-And Noah gave it to me."

Mike stopped. Noah had been Mal's boyfriend before Mal got sent to juvie again. He was the reason he was sent back in the first place.

Noah had broken up with Mal the day before school started. He was a year older than Mal, and was then becoming a senior. They had been a thing for essentially the whole summer. No one really knew about it, other than Mike and one of Noah's close friends.

Mike remembered Mal coming home that day angry, teary-eyed, and heartbroken. No, his heart had been shattered.

 **To be continued!:3 I am so bad at cliffhangers.**

 **Please review!**


	2. Flashback 1

**A/N: Woo, flashback chapter! All from Mal's POV.**

 **Thanks to Bloodylilcorpse for reviewing the first chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

Mal did not regret anything he did.

He'd thought he'd finally found someone. Noah had been the first guy to really get him. Or so he'd thought.

" _Mal, you're the only person with whom I can be myself," Noah said as he placed his bare arm across his chest._

 _"Maybe we should be ourselves all the time," Mal suggested._

 _Noah frowned at that. He turned on his side to face Mal. "I don't know...maybe we should keep this to ourselves."_

 _Mal placed a finger on Noah's abdomen. He wasn't strong physically. Mal was the strong one in the relationship. That's what Noah always said._

 _Noah returned the gesture and traced around Mal's abs._

 _Mal smiled. He pulled Noah in for a kiss on the lips. "I love you," he whispered as they pulled away from each other._

 _Noah didn't return the notion._

After that, Noah had got up and left. He said he needed to 'finish some things' for the beginning of school.

Mal was left on his bed. Mike walked past the open door to his room, easy to spot in his nerdy yellow pajamas, and looked at Mal. "Everything good with you guys?"

"Go away, Mike."

"Ok, ok."

That morning felt like Noah dropped an anvil on Mal's heart, smashing it to pieces.

"I can't be seen dating a delinquent, I'm running for student council president. I won't let Courtney beat me by hanging this over my head." Noah had told him.

"You can't dump me. You need me. And I could _end you_ ," he'd replied, angry.

Noah had rolled his eyes. "Honey, I could end you. And it looks like I just did, based on the look on your face. See you never, _Mal_." And he'd walked away, smirking.

Mal had never felt worse in his entire life. It almost made his later actions feel justified.

After the ambulance came, along with the police cars, Mal was taken to juvie again, on a year sentence, which could be cut in half if he was good. Yeah, right.

In juvie, there were the usual suspects: softies trying to prove they were bad boys, a few mentally unstable guys who kept to themselves, a few hardened criminals who'd done time so long their cells were reserved after they got out.

Mal had done his normal welcome-to-juvie routine. He stayed in the back of the area where the inmates could mingle, blending into the walls, keeping eyes off of him as he surveyed the playing field as it were.

He spotted a guy who looked to be Noah's age across the way, who was staring at him. He had a green mohawk on top of his short black hair, and intense blue eyes.

Mal stared back until he stood up and walked over to him. "Do I know you?" he asked.

"I don't believe so. You may have heard of me," Mal replied, his voice quiet.

"You look familiar... Do you go to Wawanakwa High School?"

Mal shrugged. "Not anymore." He'd been expelled after the incident.

"Ok, that must be it. I've seen you around. I'm Duncan." He introduced himself.

"It's...hardly a pleasure to meet you." Mal rolled his eyes.

Duncan frowned. He crossed his arms. "Just so you know, I basically run this place. Been in and out since I was thirteen." He smirked like that was an accomplishment.

"Oh, that's wonderful. Try it at eight years old sometime." Mal returned the smirk.

Duncan stared.

"I had a feeling you'd be easy to impress." Mal stepped out of the shadows, arms at his sides.

Duncan continued to stare as he finally saw who he was talking to. "You...you're the Malevolent One."

Mal chuckled. "I guess I can't ever get around here unnoticed. Oh well."

"You're a legend."

"I'm flattered."

"Guys say you crushed someone's wrist with your bare hands and took out a dude three times your size," Duncan continued.

"They deserved it." Mal crossed his arms. "Stop telling me things I already know before I crush _your_ wrist."

Duncan paled a bit at the threat.

Mal smirked. Duncan was kind of cute when he was scared. Maybe this round of juvie wouldn't be so bad after all...

"All inmates to their cells! Social time is over." A loudspeaker said.

Two guards walked up to Mal and grabbed him by the arms. "We'll show you to your cell."

"Until later, Duncan." Mal winked.

Duncan felt a chill go up his spine as he walked back to his cell.

 **Yeah, this is has a bit of Mal/Duncan. Couldn't resist. And it's turning out to probly be longer than a three-shot at this point.**

 **Please review! See you next time!**


	3. Flashback 2

**A/N: More flashback! More Mal/Duncanness! Woo!**

 **The times kind of go forward and back a lot(I know, I'm the worst :P) so I'm indicating when things happened in the past.**

 **Thanks to Bloodylilcorpse for reviewing the last chapter!:)**

 **Enjoy!**

Mal was led to a cell towards the back of the detention center. One of the guards guard opened the door and practically shoved him in.

"Watch it, I could severely damage you," Mal told him and his friend.

The guards gulped, nodded and hurried off.

Mal grinned triumphantly before turning to examine the cell. It was small, but large enough for two people to occupy it. A standard juvie bunk bed was in place.

Someone was on the top bunk. His hair made his identity unmistakeable.

"You're my roommate?" Mal chuckled. "What a strange twist of fate."

Duncan heard Mal's voice and sat up. "I don't share my space with legends," he said immediately. "Where'd my old roommate go?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Mal shrugged.

Duncan frowned.

"Aw, cheer up. Frowning doesn't look good on you. Besides, I don't think you'll be 'running' the joint much longer." Mal smirked.

"What do you mean? No one's tougher than me." Duncan crossed his arms.

"Wanna bet?" Mal challenged.

Duncan's brain decided to remember whom he was talking to. "Uh...sure." He couldn't back off. What if the other inmates found out?

"Tomorrow in the common area. We'll see who's a legend then."

"Deal," Duncan agreed. "But... you won't stop being a legend."

Mal smirked.

It went uphill from there. Then back down. Then up. And down, over the course of nine months. Somehow, he showed just enough good behavior to get out a bit early. By then he'd found out his family had decided to move a few towns over right before. He honestly couldn't blame them.

Saying goodbye to Duncan was hard. He'd gotten out a month sooner than Mal did. He'd come to visit a few times.

"Hey handsome. Still the king of juvie?"

"As if I ever wasn't." Mal had won their little contest. He ran juvie for those nine months. Duncan tried to stay out of his way afterwards, but that's hard when you share a cell. Plus, Mal wouldn't leave him alone.

"Mal, I told you, I'm going to see the warden." Duncan was up against the wall of their cell It was about two months into Mal's sentence.

"Oh Duncan, what'd you do this time?" Mal's voice was playfully dark.

"Some rule breaking."

"How naughty of you." Mal smiled deviously.

Duncan suddenly became uncomfortable. "Um, last I checked, you're the one whose been sneaking out of here somehow at night. Where do you even go?"

"Around. A king has to survey his kingdom." Mal took a step towards Duncan. " But it's here I always want to be. With you." His voice had lowered to a whisper.

Duncan felt a lump in the back of his throat. He'd always gone for the ladies, or they'd always gone for him. He's had two girlfriends while he was still going to Wawanakwa High, and both had broken up with him. Now, he really began to see Mal as more than just someone he was both impressed by and terrified of. He began to see how freakin' gorgeous he was, with his tan skin, his dark eyes, his hair that covered half his face. His black band t-shirt that was ripped in the sleeve and the torso, showing a sliver of his abs. His strong arms. His strong, lean legs. "Um..." was all he said.

Mal put a finger to Duncan's lips. "Shhhh. Don't say anything."

Duncan nodded, keeping his mouth shut.

"Now, how experienced are you, exactly?" Mal asked purposefully.

"You never heard Courtney's privileged voice yelling at me in the halls at school before? I've done it with her and one of my best friends, Gwen. But never with a guy."

Mal frowned at hearing Courtney's name. His expression returned to its seductive smirk. "I don't think we ought to jump right in just yet. I do, in fact, have that experience."

"Oh, really?" Duncan had never heard anything about Mal doing it with anyone in juvie. He certainly would have heard something if he had. "Who?"

"That's none of your business," Mal shot bitterly at him. "And it doesn't matter, anyway. What matters is what happens right now." And that's when Mal finally looked into Duncan's blue eyes, wrapped his arm around his neck, leaned in and kissed him.

 **Please review! This hopefully is over within the next two to three chapters. Or not, IDK. :P**


	4. Flashback 2 continued

**A/N: A bit of a continuation from the end of the last chapter.**

 **Thanks to Bloodylilcorpse for reviewing the last chapter.:)**

 **Enjoy!**

The kiss has surprised Duncan greatly, but he wouldn't say he didn't like it. Being kissed by another guy felt different than when he'd kissed Courtney or Gwen. It felt good, if he was being honest. Mal clearly knew what he was doing, although Duncan was curious who the other guy Mal had been with was.

He asked him that again a few days later, in the common area. "I told you, that's none of your business." Mal sounded angry, but kept it subtle.

"Mal, I told you whom I've dated. I think it's time you return the favor."

"You do realize I can end you, right? I own this place."

"I can tell everyone about us."

"It's hardly a secret."

"Then why are you keeping it?"

"I could drop you as quickly as I picked you up. You're nothing around here without me." Every word Mal said bit into him on the inside. He'd said them all in a previous conversation, and they was when Noah had broken up with him.

"You're not answering my first question."

Mal looked at the ground. "I'd rather not say his name where the rest of the peons in here can eavesdrop. And anyway, what does it matter. He left me out to dry. He means nothing to me anymore." The tone of his voice said that wasn't true.

"Fine. Later."

Not an hour after, Mal bitterly revealed the identity of his ex, back in their cell.

Duncan gaped. "When did you two hook up?" he asked.

"The beginning of the summer." Mal's voice was not emotional at all.

"How long?"

"Till the first day of school. Right before."

"Wow. That must've sucked."

Mal said nothing after that. His face went from emotionless to painted with a combination of heartbreak, anger, and sadness.

"You okay? By the look on your face, you didn't take it too well. Didn't you break up with him?"

"What do you think?" Mal's voice was now shaky and full of anger.

Oh. That must've been a hard breakup if you're not over it."

"Of course it was. It broke me."

"What? No, that's not possible. You're always so confident all the time. Not to mention scary..."

"I was in love, Duncan. I hadn't felt that for anyone else before." He took a deep breath. "I don't show emotion, I'm not vulnerable. He changed that. He changed everything for me, and I thought we had something...but obviously he was in it for the thrill. He dropped me to save his reputation." He looked at the floor of the cell.

Duncan said nothing. He had no words.

"If you tell anyone in here about this, you're dead, understood?" Mal was serious.

Duncan nodded.

"Good. You're the second person to hear all that from me."

"Who was the first?" Duncan didn't think more prodding would help much, but it was worth asking.

"Mike."

"And he is..."

"My younger brother."

"Huh. What's he like?"

"Too nice, annoyingly helpful, soft, boring..."

"So the opposite of you?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"And you're related how?"

Mal rolled his eyes. "What does that matter? He's my brother. Our personalities are opposites, but that doesn't change anything." Pause. "And by the way, he's visited me before. You didn't see him."

"Can I?"

"Maybe."

He never did. Mike never knew about Duncan while Mal was in juvie. Mal kept it from him.

 **Please review, and see you next time!**


	5. Post-Moving and Flashback 3

**A/N: Next chapter!**

 **Thanks to Bloodylilcorpse for reviewing the last chapter.:)**

 **Enjoy!**

Of course, as was his nature, Mike asked an awful lot of often obvious questions. The day after Mal came back, he bombarded him. "So, how'd juvie go since I last visited there?"

No response.

"Make any friends? Rule with an iron fist? Anything?" Mike kept at it.

Mal sighed in frustration. "Could you please stop it with your incessant interrogation?"

"Not until you answer me."

"Fine. I did rule with an iron fist. I always do. And I didn't make any friends."

"Are you sure? You sound like you're lying."

"Ugh, why do you have to be so good at reading people's facial expressions?"

Mike shrugged. "Actors, am I right?"

Mal smiled a bit at the terrible joke.

He'd missed Mike. He could tell him things, and Mike's optimism countered Mal's sarcasm well enough.

Mike was kind of like Mal's rock. He was always there for him. He was there when Noah broke his heart. He was there every time he was about to be sent to juvie. Mal did try to return the favor, but it never did much good. Once, Mike had a huge crush on this girl, and Mal wasn't sure exactly how he could possibly help when Mike asked him for advice.

"I don't know what to do, Mal. There's this other girl who likes me, and I kind of like her too, but I'm not myself around her. I really like Zoey but I don't know if she likes me back as anything more than a friend." Mike asked as they were sitting on the couch the summer before juvie yet again. Mal and Noah were still a thing.

At this current moment, Mal was laying on the couch. Mike was pacing the floor.

"I don't exactly know the ways that women function when it comes to romance, so I don't know why you're asking _me_ ," was Mal's first response.

"You're in a relationship, and you and Noah seem really happy together. I was hoping you could maybe give me some sort of advice. Didn't you ever go through a time when you were crushing on someone?"

Mal shrugged. "Not really." That was a lie.

"Then how did you and Noah hook up?" Mike already knew the answer, he just wanted something other than the same thing from Mal.

"We just _did_. Do I have to explain everything all over again?" Mal rolled his eyes.

Mike smiled triumphantly and nodded.

" _Fine_." Mal began to tell him the story, again, of how he and Noah got together:

 _Mal and Noah were a year apart, as I mentioned in the first part of this story. They were in some of the same advanced classes during Mal's first three years of high school. The year Mal was a sophomore and Noah was a junior, they started paying attention to each other more._

 _"Turn down your music, Mal, I'm trying to work if that wasn't obvious," Noah said to him one day. They were in a study hall and Mal was listening to those bands with the scary covers and earsplitting drums and guitars that creep out of your headphones and annoy normal humans._

 _Mal took an earbud out. He smirked. "You just don't appreciate music as much as I do." He put it back in, then turned the volume up._

 _Noah mumbled to himself, "You're so annoying."_

 _"I try my best. You're not exactly an angel yourself, Noah-it-all." He looked like one anyway. But Mal wouldn't let_ him _know that._

 _Noah rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just keep your bad taste in music to yourself."_

 _"Fine. Only 'cause I'm feeling nice today."_

 _"What came about that? Aren't you the guy always going to juvie?" Noah raised an eyebrow. Of course there was one other kid in school who'd been to juvie, but he didn't get half as much talk as Mal did._

 _"Please, stop, you flatter me too much."_

 _"Seriously, though. What's with this 'feeling nice' business? That's not you at all." Noah actually looked concerned._

 _"It's just a for now thing, calm down." Mal didn't understand Noah's worry, but was flattered that he cared enough to be concerned. "Maybe it's 'cause it would be nice for you to shut up, maybe it's 'cause you're hot, I don't know." It slipped out and he immediately regretted saying it in the spur of the moment._

 _Noah stared at him, then looked down at his homework and tried to hide the red blush on his face._

 _Mal blushed from embarrassment, and he never got embarrassed._

 _Mal tried to act like nothing happened, that things were the same. But they weren't the same. Mal avoided eye contact with Noah whenever possible, in case he slipped up yet again and said anything more to embarrass himself._

 _Naturally, that worked. Or so he thought._

 _"Mal. I need to talk to you." Noah came up to him at his locker on the last day of school, after about a month of almost no conversation between them._

 _"Sure," Mal replied, emotionless. He closed his locker door and slung his black backpack over one shoulder. "What about?"_

 _"Not here. Outside?"_

 _"I don't really care." Mal shrugged_

 _"Of course you don't, you're you." Noah rolled his eyes but still cracked a smile, confusing Mal to the point where he didn't respond. He followed Noah outside, around to the side of the school building, where social rejects who believed they were cool smoked and couples made out during lunch or a break from classes. He'd never seen Noah there before. Now they were all alone._

 _Noah had been ahead of him the whole walk there, and he stopped in a space that was in a blindspot to the classroom windows and faced Mal, making sure to give him eye contact._

 _Mal couldn't handle this silence. "What do you want, Noah? Are you_ trying _to waste my time?"_

 _"No. Far from it. Look, this is hard for me to admit. But damnit, I've_ missed _you."_

 _Mal stopped his reply before it exited his mouth._

 _"I've missed talking to you. And I know, that's crazy, because we've seen each other almost every day for months, but we haven't said a word to each other since that time in study hall-"_

 _"My fault. I didn't know how to handle you knowing I like you..." There went another slip up. Mal was mentally slapping himself._

 _"That's just it. I didn't know what to do either. For once in my life, I didn't know the answer. But avoiding you wasn't it. I... I like you too. Like that."_

 _"Really?"_

 _Noah nodded. "But I was too scared to say anything."_

 _"I can see why that'd be the case." Mal was intimidating, and he reveled in it. How could he not? He was tall, stronger than his upperclassmen, and terrifying when you got on his bad side. To top it off, he was subtle about it all. He didn't show off like the mindless jocks that populated the football team._

 _"No, it's not you," Noah assured him._

 _"I find that hard to believe." Mal was kidding himself. It was obvious Noah was being sincere. He still crossed his arms and rolled his eyes._

 _"Okay." Noah made sure to maintain eye contact with Mal, just so he could understand how incredibly hard this was for him. "Look, I don't ever open up to people, but for whatever crazy or messed up reason, I want to open up to you. You're making this very difficult and I don't appreciate it so-nngh." Noah closed his eyes and took a deep breath, though he looked like he was starting to get a bit...angry? "Sorry if this was a waste of your_ precious _time. I hate to be such a_ burden _when you'd obviously enjoy it to be elsewhere. I'll just go-" he turned to leave._

 _"Stop."_

 _Noah turned back around, obviously hurt by everything he himself had just said._

 _"This is the problem, Noah. You didn't stop to think about what I might actually be feeling right now. You assumed I felt my time truly had been wasted listening to you fall apart and confess to me. Quite the contrary. Goes to show how much you know about me, which is next to nothing, apparently. But that's my own fault as much as yours, so the blame for this whole ordeal is on both our shoulders. Maybe we could try starting over. We don't know anything about each other, not much anyway."_

 _"You're right, of course you're right. I was so stupid. I really_ don't _know you."_

 _"Then let's get to know each other better, shall we?" Mal's mouth curved up into some form of a smile or a smirk as he raised his one visible eyebrow._

 _Noah rolled his eyes at the sultry tone Mal took when he asked the question, but still smiled and nodded._

"And it went uphill from there. Happy now, Mike?" Mal asked,

"Of course I am. So I should be honest about what I feel, and hopefully they understand?"

"If that's what you take from that, whatever."

Mike ended up with Zoey as a girlfriend for a few months. Then Anne Maria snatched him away. They went back and forth the whole summer and school year until both girls had had enough and told Mike to choose. By then, Mike was told he and his family were moving, so he told them both sorry for everything and wished them well.

He got a can of hairspray to the head before coming home crying to a half-packed-away apartment. He was more than fine with leaving after all that drama.

 **Please review. See you next time!**


	6. Moving continued

**A/N: I'm giving credit for the picture on the shirt to my good friend FoxGirl426. The whole t-shirt concept was my idea, she inspired the picture on it.**

 **Please enjoy this chapter. Sorry for the long wait.**

 **Thanks to RebelToasters12 and the guest for reviewing the last chapter.:)**

 **Enjoy!**

Now, time to bring back what gave this story its title.

Let us return to the beginning, where we left off.

It all started with a Big Bang...

Kidding! Wrong story.

For real this time...

Mal clutched the shirt in his hand. He was glaring at Mike.

"Sorry, I didn't know..." Now Mike felt bad.

"I'm sorry too. " Mal's frown deepened. "That I didn't throw this stupid thing out sooner."

"Why would you want to do that?"

Mal looked at the shirt. The obnoxious pink color mocked him, as if it represented the love he'd once felt between him and Noah. He threw the shirt down on the floor before glancing back at Mike. "Because I want to forget about him." He remained firm yet inside he was trembling. He could never forget him. Never.

Mike's eyes widened at hearing this. His expression turned sympathetic, and he went to hug his older brother.

Mal tried to keep himself from crying. Really, really tried.

"It's not good to forget your past relationships. You can look back and learn from them like I did," Mike said.

"Every time I do, it takes me back to a place I told myself I would never go again. Better to forget than to remember." Mal gave in and hugged him back. He felt tears in his eyes.

"Still, you should keep it." Mike pulled away and picked the shirt up off the floor, offering it to Mal.

Mal looked at it again, wiping his eyes. "I don't know..."

Mike also offered a small smile. "At least put it on once. For me?"

Mal took a deep breath. "Fine." He swiped the shirt from Mike and set off for the unfurnished bathroom. He shed his black shirt and put on the pink one. He looked at it in the mirror. On the front was a picture of a sparkly pink kitten with bright green eyes, staring out. It was outlined in white and the shirt itself was a shade of hot pink. "This color is horrific. He always had an odd sense of fashion..." _That was the point_ , he realized. _It's the opposite of what I usually wear._

Sighing, he walked back into the living room where Mike still stood. "That is the coolest shirt I've seen you wear," Mike said.

"No, it's not. It's hideous."

"It's not hideous, it's different. Different can be good." Mike smiled.

Mal fingered the shirt. "I suppose it's not that bad. It's a nice fabric, anyway."

"That's the spirit!"

Mal rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

 **Okay, I'm hoping this will wrap up soon. Please review, see you next time.:)**


	7. Post moving

**A/N: I've really been in a writing mood lately. Weird. But also good!**

 **Apologies for the brief Malejandro that isn't even shown but is hinted at. Also apologies if Al isn't characterized well, it's been awhile since I've written him. :p**

 **Oh and there's a bit of language used but it's not much.**

 **Thanks to Bloodylilcorpse and RebelToasters12 for reviewing the last chapter! :)**

 **Enjoy!**

The two brothers spent the next day exploring the town they'd moved to. Mal admittedly wore the cat shirt on one of those days, though he wore a jacket over ir.

"This will be a boring place to live..." He declared after they'd taken a lap around the neighborhood.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad. Besides, you'll finish high school this year and you'll go off and do whatever you want in the most interesting place you can find," Mike replied optimistically.

"I just hope the myths about hot American guys being total assholes aren't true, because I know hot Canadian assholes and I don't think I could handle two nations worth of them," Mal commented jokingly.

"That's not a real myth. You just made that up."

"So what? I can have expectations."

They passed by the high school they would be starting at in the fall, Mal as a senior and Mike as a junior. Mal had missed his junior year but he was advanced anyway so it didn't really matter.

It happened to be the last day of classes and the bell rang. The students started to spill out, chatting and promising to keep in touch over the summer. Mal and Mike just observed. Mal was analyzing the guys to see if any were remotely good looking. Not really.

"You two seem lost. May I be of assistance?" A smooth, accented voice asked from behind the two brothers.

Mal turned his head to look at the person behind the voice and his throat tightened, his face grew a shade of red and he stared. _Damnit. He's gorgeous._

He could tell Mal was flustered so Mike responded, "no, just looking around. We just moved here."

"Ah, I see. Where are you coming from?"

"Canada. I'm Mike, this is my older brother Mal." He gently elbowed Mal.

"Hello," Mal spoke up, not making eye contact with the hot guy.

"I am Alejandro," said hot guy introduced himself with a slight bow.

"Nice to meet you Alejandro," Mike replied, smiling.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well." Al smiled and Mal melted a little. Al glanced at him. "My friend, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Mal replied, crossing his arms and trying to hide his blush.

"If you insist. Now, I must be off. The summer won't start itself, si?"

Mal nodded in agreement. Alejandro strode off, giving them one more charming smile. It was mostly directed at Mal.

"Looks like you've found one," Mike commented, smirking.

"Shut up."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"What are you proposing?"

"You. Me. Behind the school."

"My good sir, I do not know what you believe I am."

"I believe you're a hot, heterosexual guy who could use a diversified portfolio if you know what I mean."

"And why do you believe that?"

"I saw you pining after that Asian girl the other night. What's her name again?"

"...Heather. My girlfriend."

Mal took a precarious step towards him and looked him straight in his goddamn perfect eyes. "You know what? Never mind. You must not have the guts to try anything out of your little comfort zone of wooing the ladies and then pushing them off you with those strong hands of yours." He looked away from him, his face red.

Alejandro stepped towards him as well. "Mal..." His voice was soothing and Mal wasn't sure if he wanted to punch him or kiss him right then and there but the decision was made for him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The thing he had with Alejandro lasted two weeks. Then Al dumped him after Heather became suspicious. Mal shut himself in his room for a few days before he realized he didn't care.

 **Please review! See y'all next time!:)**


	8. Someones at the door

**A/N: this took waaaay too long to write :p**

 **Thank you to Bloodylilcorpse for reviewing the last chapter :)**

 **Enjoy!**

As the summer days passed by the two brothers slowly became accustomed to their new life. Mal went around a free agent, not taking care to stay with anyone longer than a week before one dumped the other, and Mike stuck it out alone, though he did make a few friends.

School would be starting soon and Mal was unfortunately reminded of what this time for him last year was like. It was yet another painful memory of his lost relationship with Noah.

I'm over him he tried telling himself when he was kept awake at night being the insomniac he was. I've dated over twenty guys in the last year, I have to be over him by now.

This made it clear: he wasn't over him. He thought about him every time he flirted with next week's boyfriend, every time he kissed someone new.

What he didn't know was that he had a visitor.

A knock emanated from the door the next morning. It was early, maybe five or six. Mal was the only one awake and he looked out the peephole. He saw who it was and panicked a little. _Oh god no... How did he..._ he thought as he backed away. Some deep seeded anger began to reheat in the back of his mind.

"I heard footsteps, I know someone's there..." an all too familiar voice commented from the other side of the door. It sounded a bit deeper than it had been the last time Mal had heard it but it was recognizable all the same.

"Sorry, no one lives here..." Mal replied in a whisper.

"Oh, I guess Duncan gave me the wrong address..."

Mal opened the door a crack and peeked out. "What did he tell you?" he asked in a bit of a hissy whisper.

"Enough. Most of it bragging...but not all," the person on the other side replied. "Let me in, Mal. I want to talk to you."

Mal pondered whether or not he should let him in. He looked at himself; not the best outfit for a tense reunion, the shirt and a pair of black sweatpants, and his hair was messed up some.

 _Why_ should _I let him in, anyway?_

"No."

"Um, excuse me?"

"I said no, I won't let you into my house, Noah."

"I figured you'd say that. You're still furious at me, but you seem to have kept _busy_."

Mal frowned. "Why are you here?"

"I said it already: to talk to you."

"We're talking right now, genius..."

"I know, and this is more than I thought I'd get out of this."

Mal's eye took in Noah's outfit: a blue t-shirt and green cargo shorts perfect for the late summer night, and a different pair of hiking shoes, black ones with purple laces. _Wait a minute...those seem familiar_ he thought as he glanced back up at his ex.

Noah raised an expectant eyebrow.

Mal slammed the door in his face.

"Really?"

"I don't have to let you in again, Noah. Not after the hell you put me through." Mal clenched his fists.

"Excuse me? Since when did I put you through hell?" His tone was slightly confused. Oh, how oblivious he was indeed.

" _Every day since that night_ ," Mal replied, his anger breaking through fro a second but his voice still quiet.

Noah was silent. He looked at the ground and sighed quietly under his breath. "...I didn't expect you to react this way, I thought you'd be over it...I thought _I_ was." He was admitting he was wrong, not a usual habit for the self proclaimed know it all. "I sailed through senior year, never feeling guilt over what I did. You weren't around to make me, you were in juvie after that incident..."

Mal was silent. "...why did you come here...?" he asked again.

"...I want to see you again before I go to college. One more time... I wanted to see if you've changed since last year for myself, I wasn't satisfied with rumors blabbing from Duncan's putrid mouth..."

"...you crossed a border to see me..." Mal was wrapping his mind around that.

"Want to make the trip worth it?"

Did he? Mal didn't want to forgive him and then have it be for nothing. He was smarter than that.

"...if I opened the door you wouldn't like what you saw..." Mal said.

"Come on. Just open the door a little. For a minute," Noah pleaded.

Mal didn't feel himself do it. But he did it. He opened the door and let Noah see him, desolate and vulnerable.

Noah stared, eyes widening. "...you're wearing it," he managed to say, as if the rest of Mal's appearance didn't matter.

Mal grimaced. "Mike talked me into it."

"I-It looks great on you..."

"Are you kidding? It's hideous..."

"If it's on you it's not hideous..." Noah let that slip and he blushed.

Mal looked down at him. He couldn't help but blush a little too.

"...can I come in?" Noah asked again, looking him in the eye.

Damnit, that did it.

"...sure," Mal found himself muttering.

 **Heh, cliffhanger.**

 **Review if you feel so moved, see ya next chapter :)**


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